PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Residents of Peshawar say organized crime and militancy are on the rise — and increasingly hard to distinguish — and it was possible that an Iranian diplomat kidnapped Wed nesday was taken for ransom.
The Iranian and his Pakistani bodyguard were driving over a narrow bridge in Peshawar when two gunmen blocked their way with a car and opened fire, said Banaras Khan, a police investigator who cited a witness. The attackers fled with the diplomat, and the guard was killed.
Officials identified the diplomat as Heshmatollah Atharzadeh, a commercial attache. Iran’s Foreign Ministry denounced the abduction as a “terrorist act” and summoned Pakistan’s envoy to Tehran.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Pakistani militants have taken responsibility for some of the recent attacks on foreigners.
On Wednesday, gunmen shot and killed American aid worker Stephen Vance as he was traveling to work in Peshawar. Detective Mohammed Farooq Khan said police have found no witnesses to Vance’s killing and have no strong leads.
The U.S. Embassy in the capital, Islamabad, said USAID, the American government’s development arm, had told Americans in Peshawar to review their security arrangements. In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said a number of organizations planned to shift operations to Islamabad.
